Contents

History

Established in 1996, Alienware assembles high performance desktops, notebooks, and workstations. According to employees, the Alienware name was chosen because of the founders' fondness for the hit television series The X-Files, hence the theme to their products, with names such as Area-51, Hangar18, m15x, and Aurora.[4]

Alienware was originally established to tap a niche in the high performance game market, which back then was not on the radar of the major PC manufacturers such as Dell. Since high-end hardware was not widely distributed, the company's founders formed an OEM which sold personal computers with the highest performing hardware and settings according to benchmarks[citation needed]. The company products are also differentiated by their science-fiction based designs.

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Acquisition and current status

Dell considered buying Alienware since the year 2002, but did not take any action until March 22, 2006, when it agreed to purchase the company.[5] The new subsidiary maintained its autonomy in terms of design and marketing. However, Alienware's access to Dell's supply chain, purchasing power, and economies of scale would lower its operating costs.[6]

Initially, Dell maintained its competing XPS line of gaming PCs, often selling computers with the same specifications. The XPS line may have hurt Alienware's market share within its high-end market segment. Due to corporate restructuring in the spring of 2008, the XPS brand was scaled down. Product development of gaming PCs was consolidated with Dell's gaming division, with Alienware becoming Dell's premier gaming brand. [7] On June 2, 2009, The M17x was introduced as the First Alienware/Dell branded system. Alienware now represents the premium performance space in Dell’s consumer family of products.[8] This launch also expands Alienware’s global reach from six to 35 countries.

Innovations

Alienware has been known to feature some of the best innovations to computers as of late. This would include many flashy abilities for their computers (the ability to change the color of the keyboard), high powered processors (one of the first companies to use the new Intel processors such as the Intel Core i7), and now the newest in 3D graphic technologies. Though many of its competitors may have similar innovations, Alienware has succeeded in becoming the most recognizable top of the line brand arguably. [12][citation needed]